Clockwork Angels

Stephen Colbert once joked with Rush by asking, "Have you ever written a song so epic that by the end of the song you were actually being influenced by yourself in the beginning of the song?" Which could indeed be the case with this mini classic that works as a self-contained rock opera.

It's a lot to take in all at once, but what stays with you are things like Peart's blissful dancing on the hi-hat and Lifeson's bold Townshend-esque revelry. (Can a song have its own overture? It not, it certainly does now.) And then there's Lee's voice, which has never sounded so smooth and unaffected.

When the band is hard charging, Peart pounds on his toms with an almost beastly force. By the 4:30 mark, the spotlight hits Lifeson, performing a solo that plays like an aria.

It all builds to a playful false ending, an audio trompe l'oiel... which proceeds to a shattering finale.